Post WWl, Russia was still not industrialized, suffering economically and politically and in no doubt in need of a leader after Lenin’s death. “His successor, Joseph Stalin, a ruthless dictator, seized power and turned Russia into a totalitarian state where the government controls all aspects of private and public life.” Stalin showed these traits by using methods of enforcement, state control of individuals and state control of society. The journey of Stalin begins now.
“An increasing number of people were tortured or executed without trial or sentence” (Doc 5) under Hitler’s rule. Cubans were oppressed by their government which deprived them of social freedom, economic freedom and even political freedom due to the Communist Party wanting to hold their power. No one was allowed to “communicate freely with foreign journalists” (Doc 6). In all totalitarian states everyone had to constantly watch what they said and what they did due to the party in control wanting to be absolutely in power and any opposition was eliminated. They held so much power, one man, “Dr. Ulrich georg Israel Schulz, from Prague, born on 8 June 1897 in Prague, was lawfully shot by police” (Doc 7) in an
In a repressive regime, many people cannot conclude whether it was the fault of the people or the fault of the ruler. Without taking the people into consideration, new rulers come into the government, knowing how they want things to go, regardless of how the people feel. Stalin used his power, and fear to be sure that they were going to do what he wanted. Although while Stalin was getting power, the people were not aware of what was going on. The people were at fault because they sat back and watched the events unfold.
Research question: "Was Stalin's Great Terror in the late 1930s driven by a fear of foreign infiltration?" This investigation focuses on the late 1930s when the state-orchestrated purges were most intense. This investigation studies the purge of foreign elements who might betray the state during war. The purge of the Red Army and the intelligence apparatus is analysed in relation to the threat of these organisations being penetrated by foreign countries. The Kulak Operation is analysed in relation to the threat of foreign countries encouraging rebellion amongst kulaks.
Stalin didn’t just use the secret police to crush the hopes and dreams of his people. He also banned religion. This was done because he believed in science and he didn’t want people to focus on life without communism. (Document Four) Stalin’s political actions can be seen as completely tyrannical but he did impact society as
Joseph Stalin became dictator of the Soviet Union in 1928 (“Joseph Stalin – Powerful Communist Ruler”) after the death of Russia’s former ruler Vladimir Lenin (“Joseph Stalin”). In the late 1920’s he created a sequence of five year plans which were created to alter the Soviet Union from a peasant society into a country that was industrially advanced (“Joseph Stalin.”) after he realised Russia was far behind in comparison to the west (“Joseph Stalin.”). The idea was for the government to control the economy in which they forced collectivization of Soviet agriculture, the idea in which the government controlled farming.
Process of Findings The first part of this report will discuss the evidence pertaining to the “genuinely concerned, pragmatic” side to Joseph Stalin’s leadership. Stalin was a leader who was honoured and praised by many of his people in the USSR for various reasons. He was portrayed on propaganda posters as a kind, caring and genuinely concerned leader particularly towards children who were the future of the USSR (Source A). By Stalin being portrayed as a leader who shows genuine concern and care for the children of his country, it propagates the message that children and the entire population of the USSR will have an “enlightened future” under his leadership13 (Source A), and would in turn help Stalin gain more support for himself.
An authoritarian dictator is a person in power who has total control of the citizens of a country. My dictators are Joseph Stalin and Mao zedong. Stalin ruled Russia and Mao ruled china. Mao's political party was the Chinese communist party. Stalin's political party was the communist party of the soviet union.
Joseph Stalin embarked absolute power over the USSR upon the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. Stalin’s primary goal as ruler of the nation was to launch a revolution from above. In order to achieve this, Stalin emphasised on rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. With the growth of these two economic factors, Stalin hoped for the USSR to gain superiority amongst the world. Joseph Stalin and the Five Year Plan developed a beneficial impact to the USSR due to the industrial advancements and collectivization of agriculture, the nation obtained throughout Stalin's position in power.
Stalin Primary ambition was to turn what he believed to be the industrial backwater that was the Soviet Union into an economic a world superpower. His goal was to make up decades or even years of time in just a single decade. By the definition of his goal he succeed he had turned a mostly agricultural country into an industrial super power, but it did not come without a cost. Those cost fell on the soviet working class in two ways the first was their atrocious living conditions and the second was their personal freedoms.
Stalin and Hitler: Similarities and Differences Stalin and Hitler emerged at the time when political and economic instability had crippled the USSR and Germany. They began making improvements which encouraged their people to believe that prosperous times await them. This notion would unfortunately turn out as an illusion. Both figures would eventually rule by decree. Despite treading on different paths of ruling, both figures still find some commonalities.
Dictator Stalin ordered to execute anyone that opposed him. Him and his secret police raided houses and killed and tortured many who were being accused of going against him. Many had to confess for crimes they did not commit due to torture. He eve executed his own party officials and leaders which lead to fear across the country. People were dying for simply not agreeing or not acting a certain way.
Through the folds of history, the phrase “the end justifies the means” has appeared often in an attempt for leaders to degrade their terrible acts and exaggerate their achievements that resulted. In the late 1800s, during the repressive and absolute rule of Stalin, many Russian citizens argued however, that Stalin did not justify his end with his means. The death of tens of thousands of Russian citizens from both execution and starvation, which were a direct result from his goals of a perfect communist utopian society, is not an act that can be ignored when considering his ultimately ‘good’ goals of pulling Russia out of poverty and stagnant economic and political growth. Joseph Stalin was able to greatly boost the Soviet Unions economy by instituting the 5-year plans with a resulting goal of rapid industrialization, and by instituting collectivization. Joseph Stalin ruled with an iron fist.
Joseph Stalin was and still is universally known for his harsh leadership in the Soviet Union. To examine the extent of his cruelness, World Civilization II: The Rise and Fall of Empires© 1500-present stated, "Stalin was not a communist; he was a sociopath. He enjoyed hurting people and ordering their deaths. In his time as dictator of the Soviet Union, he was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his people, and the cruel torture and imprisonment of millions more" (Sattler, 71).
Lenin even states in his directive to the Communist Party Leadership that, “Stalin has concentrated enormous power in his hands, and I am not sure he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution… Stalin is too rude and this fault becomes unbearable in the office of General Secretary. Therefore I propose to find a way to remove Stalin from that position and appoint to it a man who is… more patient, more loyal, more polite, and more attentive to comrades”(Doc 7). This states the basic personality of Stalin and how many did not feel he would rule well because of the carelessness he had with the power of running a country of that size and the ignorance he shows political-wise. Another method of his terrible reign was the famine that had occurred amongst the people.
